Struggles continued between Bush and Congress over the War on Terror, Iraqi War, and presidential power. The Congress rightfully outlawed torture. Bush vetoed the bill because it banned
water boarding. One definite stain on the Bush Administration is the use of such tactics, euphemistically called “aggressive interrogations.” Information obtained from such tactics is unreliable. Therefore, the use of such is unnecessary.
Bush did win a couple of victories. The
wiretap bill passed. This angered the left which complained that it monitored Americans. However, it is a strong tool that can be used to nail bad guys. The left may have helped the terrorists in this battle. Their initial complaints about the monitoring of people in Afghanistan that happened to call America tipped off the terrorists.
In addition to the wiretap bill and water boarding veto, Bush also won the battle on war funding. Democrats threatened to defund the Iraq War. Many on the left begged and pleaded for it. The Democrats were caught in an interesting quandary. They could take money away from American troops in the field or they could anger their base. The troops got their funds thereby ensuring the continuation of the Iraq War. At present, the war is won. So, those that voted for the funding did the right thing.
While Bush was winning his final political victories against the Democrats, the Supreme Court handed him a defeat. The court cancelled Bush Administration guidelines at
Gitmo. The detainees could appeal their detentions. Legally, this is probably the correct decision. Practically, it is moot. Obama has promised to close the detention facility.
On the foreign policy front,
Russia invaded Georgia. The Russians were looking to flex their muscles and regain super power status. So, they picked a fight with their smaller, weaker neighbor. They used the same logic that Hitler used to invade Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Poland. (For some absurd reason, many on the left argued Georgia was as responsible for the conflict as Russia.) Bush handled the situation as well as could be. American troops began to appear in the region which forced Moscow to back down after their initial war aims were met.
The other major issue in 2008 was the economy. Early in the year,
gas prices spiked to over $4 a gallon as a result of speculators. Prices eventually collapsed as a result of the worldwide economic crisis. OPEC has vowed to cut production to raise prices. In the US, there was a lot of talk, but no action by the administration and congress. Bush appeared helpless, Republicans and some Democrats talked about a gas tax break, while the left opined that the timing was wrong for a massive gas price hike.
Obama was one of those in favor of price spikes. He wants to eliminate fossil fuels and move to alternative energies. That is fine, but price spikes hurt people. Despite his support for high gas prices,
Obama won the presidency with 52% of the vote. The vote was anti-Bush, but more importantly, John McCain ran a terrible campaign, and the
economy collapsed.
As the year ended,
Israel launched air strikes on the Palestinians. The Hamas Government had been lobbing rockets into Israel which is an act of war. Israel responded with devastating effect. The Israelis probably felt pressure to retaliate before the new pro-Palestinian American Administration took power. All out war may have begun.
Moving into 2009, Bush is trying to punt where possible to give Obama some latitude in action upon assuming the presidency. Obama will be handling the worst economic situation since Jimmy Carter’s Administration. The situation has the potential of being as bad as the 1930s. Also, Obama will have to deal with Afghanistan and wind down the Iraq War.
